Collier Timothy, Bennett Pauleen, Rohlf Vanessa, Howell Tiffani
School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC 3552, Australia.
Vet Sci. 2022 Dec 1;9(12):669. doi: 10.3390/vetsci9120669.
The development of a therapeutic alliance represents one of the most important processes that occurs in psychological therapy and is one of the strongest predictors of treatment outcome. To ensure the effective delivery of psychological interventions, it is important to explore factors which may improve the therapeutic alliance. There are well-documented effects of human-animal interactions in social settings, and researchers have also considered the effect of dog presence on the therapeutic alliance. A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklist. Database searches included CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus. The inclusion criteria were studies that assessed the effect of dog presence on the therapeutic alliance and provided a quantitative outcome measure. Six studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. Three of the included studies observed no significant effect of dog presence on the therapeutic alliance; three studies did observe a positive effect, with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.10 to d = 0.58. All six studies took place in either research or clinical settings. Studies differed in terms of help-seeking versus non-help-seeking populations, where help-seeking populations were genuinely pursuing a psychological intervention. Heterogeneity was observed regarding study procedure and outcome measures used. Current data is limited, and initial evidence suggests that the effect of dog presence on the therapeutic alliance remains unclear, illustrated by inconsistent outcomes across the included studies. Further research is warranted before introducing dogs into therapeutic settings for this purpose.
治疗联盟的发展是心理治疗中最重要的过程之一，也是治疗效果最强的预测指标之一。为确保心理干预的有效实施，探索可能改善治疗联盟的因素很重要。在社交环境中，人与动物互动的影响已有充分记录，研究人员也考虑了狗的存在对治疗联盟的影响。根据系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）清单进行了一项系统评价。数据库检索包括CINAHL、Cochrane、Embase、MEDLINE、PsycINFO和Scopus。纳入标准是评估狗的存在对治疗联盟的影响并提供定量结果测量的研究。六项研究符合纳入标准并被纳入系统评价。其中三项纳入研究未观察到狗的存在对治疗联盟有显著影响；三项研究确实观察到了积极影响，效应大小范围为d = 0.10至d = 0.58。所有六项研究均在研究或临床环境中进行。研究在寻求帮助与非寻求帮助的人群方面存在差异，其中寻求帮助的人群是真正在寻求心理干预。在所使用的研究程序和结果测量方面观察到了异质性。目前的数据有限，初步证据表明，狗的存在对治疗联盟的影响仍不明确，纳入研究的结果不一致就说明了这一点。在将狗引入治疗环境用于此目的之前，有必要进行进一步的研究。
